Editorial Research Assistants

High School

Editorial research assistants must have top-notch communication skills, so you should excel in English. Strong research and writing skills are essential, since you will be fact-checking, correcting, and even rewriting the work of others. Take journalism, writing, and speech courses to build your skills. Work as a writer or editor for the school paper. Take computer science courses (especially in artificial intelligence, if offered) and learn how to type quickly and accurately and use the Internet to conduct online research.

Postsecondary Training

A minimum of a bachelor's degree is required by most employers to work as an editorial research assistant. Common degrees include English, journalism, or creative writing, although some workers have degrees in history, political science, other liberal arts fields, or majors that provide training for a targeted career path. For example, if you want to specialize in research editorial work in science, you may wish to major in an area of science while earning a minor in English, writing, or journalism. Many colleges offer courses in general editing, book editing, and writing. Some colleges, such as the University of Chicago, University of Denver, and Stanford University, offer programs in publishing.

Certification

Several colleges and universities offer programs in which students can earn certificates after taking a certain number of classes about topics such as publishing basics, proofreading, copyediting, and copyright. Schools that offer these programs include the University of Chicago, City College of New York, Columbia University, New York University, Pace University, and the University of Denver. Visit http://bookjobs.com/publishing-programs for a list of colleges and universities that offer these programs.

Other Education or Training

Editorial research assistants can continue to update their skills by participating in continuing education classes, webinars, and other learning opportunities that are provided by professional associations, colleges and universities, and for-profit, online learning platforms. For example, ACES: The Society for Editing offers sessions on grammar, headline writing, content management, layout and design, word choice and style, and other topics at its annual conference. The Editorial Freelancers Association provides workshops, seminars, online courses, and other continuing education opportunities on topics such as proofreading, editing basics, and working as a freelancer. Other organizations that offer continuing education opportunities include the News/Media Alliance, American Society of Magazine Editors, and the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. Contact these organizations for more information.